Miami Marlins: Today would have been the start of the MLB season

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: A general view of the field after the spring training game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 12, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. Major League Baseball is suspending Spring Training and delaying the start of the regular season by at least two weeks due to the ongoing threat of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

As our country is still dealing with the coronavirus crisis, Marlins fans still await the arrival of the 2020 MLB season to begin.

Today is a sad day for baseball fans. Today would have been the start of the Major League Baseball season. For Marlins fans, Opening Day would have taken place tomorrow with a series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Now, for a moment of silence.

While the world worries about what to make of the coronavirus and how the pandemic has a stronghold on almost everything we do, baseball isn’t the focal point of the world we live in, but it could be what reunites us in the future, according to commissioner Rob Manfred.

He also believes the game we all love will be back sooner rather than later. Whether that is with fans in the seats or not isn’t known yet.

“We’ll have to make a determination, depending on what the precise date is, as to how much of a preparation period we need; whether that preparation period is going to be done in the clubs’ home cities or back in Florida and Arizona. I think the goal would be to get to as many regular-season games as possible and think creatively about how we can accomplish that goal.”

It is believed players would need at least a month to prepare for the rigors of the regular season after Spring Training games in Florida and Arizona was put on hold and facilities all over MLB were closed for safety reasons.

This is affecting all levels of the Marlins organization from Clinton, Iowa to South Florida. Ballparks are closed. Fans are waiting like everyone else and wish and praying for normalcy on even the smallest level.

Baseball might be part of the elixir that makes us all feel whole again. How many games the Marlins and others can play this season has not been determined yet. But some baseball is better than no baseball. And for the players who are still part of Major League camp, the journey is not over yet.

As I plow through YouTube and other forms of social media to get my “fix” for my obsession with baseball, the beauty of the game is what helps me and others.

News coming at some point from MLB on tentative but still VERY uncertain plans. Sources say both sides would like 140-150 games. Weekly double headers possible. Regular season games in October. June draft will be cut in half at least. Looking at possibly 10 rounds. @SportsGrid

Manfred said he and other commissioners of other sports have talked about the best ways possible to maximize the time players have on the field. It could lead to an overload of baseball coming to a ballpark near you. I’m all in favor of that. Baseball could be played like it was in years gone by and teams that haven’t sniffed the postseason could be right in the middle of it all.

“Obviously our fans love a 162-game season and the postseason format that we have; we’re probably not going to be able to do that this year, I think that’s clear. It does give us an opportunity to do some different things, to experiment, and to make sure that we provide as many games as possible and as entertaining a product as possible.”

For now, Don Mattingly’s team is on stand by. Players are waiting to train again. America and other countries are hoping to feel whole again. Waiting is the hardest part (thank you, Tom Petty), but the outcome could one of the best – although shortest – seasons in recent memory.

Hopefully, it doesn’t take as long as many think. The Marlins could be another hot topic once again. And baseball, this grand old game, could be what brings us closer to feeling whole again.